HS2: Government must pledge to grow rail freight, says Logistics UK

Friday 06 November 2020

The logistics sector’s support of HS2 is conditional on the government pledging unequivocal support to grow rail freight, according to Logistics UK. The business group has today (6 November 2020) launched a new report into how freight capacity will be released following the construction of HS2.

Zoe McLernon, Multimodal Policy Manager at Logistics UK comments: “Logistics UK needs government to secure the future of rail freight in the UK and provide a cast-iron guarantee that freight services will have sufficient access to the released capacity that HS2 will provide. The conventional rail network is bursting at the seams; there are almost half as many freight trains using the network as there were 15 years ago as passenger services, which continue to grow steadily, take the lion’s share of the network. We are concerned that the process to allocate released capacity may favour passenger operators, because it will be run by the incumbent passenger operator (West Coast Partnership) and there is no guarantee that capacity will be provided for freight.

“HS2 presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make Britain’s transport network more sustainable, and the opportunity for freight via released capacity from HS2 is substantial. HS2’s development will free-up space on the existing rail network for up to 144 extra freight trains per day, potentially removing 10,944 HGVs from the UK’s congested roads every day. However, there is no policy or legal requirement that a proportion of released capacity must be allocated to freight; Logistics UK urges government to reconsider its principles and provide clear and unequivocal support to grow rail freight.”

The report focuses on how Phases One and 2a of HS2 will release capacity on the West Coast Main Line and proposes ways to enhance the role of freight across the project.

The report is available to view here https://logistics.org.uk/files/public/rail/2020-hs2-report.pdf

Logistics UK (formerly FTA) is one of the UK’s leading business groups, representing logistics businesses which are vital to keeping the UK trading, and more than seven million people directly employed in the making, selling and moving of goods. With COVID-19, Brexit, new technology and other disruptive forces driving change in the way goods move across borders and through the supply chain, logistics has never been more important to UK plc. Logistics UK supports, shapes and stands up for safe and efficient logistics, and is the only business group which represents the whole industry, with members from the road, rail, sea and air industries, as well as the buyers of freight services such as retailers and manufacturers whose businesses depend on the efficient movement of goods